Dinosaur King(古代王者恐竜キング,Kodai Ōja Kyōryū Kingu?, literally "Ancient Ruler Dinosaur King") is a card-basedarcade game from Sega that uses the same gameplay mechanics from Mushiking but uses super-powered dinosaurs instead of beetles. The game was revealed in JAMMA 2005 and is available in Japanese and English versions. A Nintendo DS version has also been released.[2]

In the fall of 2008, Upper Deck Company released a Dinosaur King Trading Card Game. This card game is not to be confused with the cards used for the arcade machines.[3]

The series has been adapted into an anime TV series, Ancient Ruler Dinosaur King DKidz Adventure(古代王者恐竜キング Dキッズ・アドベンチャー,Kodai Ōja Kyōryū Kingu Dī Kizzu Adobenchā?). A sequel was announced called "Ancient Ruler Dinosaur King DKidz Adventure: Pterosaur Legend(古代王者恐竜キング Dキッズ・アドベンチャー翼龍伝説,Kodai Ōja Kyōryū Kingu Dī Kizzu Adobenchā: Yokuryū Densetsu?)," which debuted February 3, 2008 in Japan. The show ended its run in Japan in late 2008.

Dr. Spike Taylor was on a paleontology mission in Africa with his son Max and Max's friend Rex. Max discovers stone slabs and finds dinosaurs are calling them for help. An evil organization called the "Alpha Gang", led by the nefarious Dr. Z, traveled back in time to hunt down the dinosaurs and use them to take over the world. It is up to Max and Rex to travel around the world, defeating Dr. Z and the Alpha Gang while hunting down the dinosaurs (Later, the story varies as the arcade game machine keeps on upgrading).

Max Taylor is the son of paleontologist Dr. Spike Taylor. After falling out of bed early one morning and witnessing a meteor fall from the sky, Max sets out with his friends, Rex Owen and Zoe Drake into a forest where the meteor had crashed. They find a lightning, wind and grass stone. They also find a card with a picture of a Triceratops on it. Chomp is accidentally activated when Max rubs the card on the stone. The D-Team meet their new enemies in the Alpha Gang when they come to catch more dinosaurs.Rex activated a Carnotaurus card which was named Ace and Zoe activated a Parasaurolophus which was named Paris. The D-Team and Alpha Gang often clash for possession of dinosaurs that are activated, when their cards are activated. In the finale, the Alpha Gang's Seth turns on his comrades with his Black Tyrannosaurus, which is ultimately defeated. Seth attempts to bring Chomp back to the past, which fails, and Seth is sent into the past alone. The D-Team surrender their dinosaurs to Rex's original parents, with many tears.

In the second series, the Alpha Gang and the Ancients return. While the parents are talking, they are kidnapped by Gavro, a member of the Spectral Space Pirates. This causes the Alpha Gang and D-Team to join forces against the Space Pirates in their plot to obtain the Cosmos Stones. Seth later returns as an ally to the Spectral Space Pirates. Spectre, the leader of the Space Pirates, provides the dinosaur cards. In episode 75, Seth seems to become a traitor as he appeals to the D-Team for help, saying that they forced him to help them. However, it was really a trick to get the two Cosmos Stones in D-Team's control, despite the fact that he attacks and defeats his comrades two episodes later. In the end, although the Spectral Space Pirates manage to catch all seven Cosmos Stones, Seth and the Pterosaur defeat the Black Pterosaur. Rex, his parents, and the Alpha Gang leave to their own time as the Spectral Space Pirates are floating around in a pod.

There are different cards to collect and use in order to play Dinosaur King. The barcodes are located on the long edges of the cards for the player to scan them in the machine. So far, there are four types of cards used in this game.

These cards represent the fighting techniques of the super-powered dinosaurs in the Dinosaur King arcade game. They are only scanned once the Dinosaur Card has been scanned. Only one move card per move type can only be scanned, making a total of three possible cards that can be scanned. For example: Tail Smash (Rock), Tie Breaker (Scissors), and Atomic Bomb (paper) is a combination choice for fighting against dinosaurs.

These cards can teach the dinosaur a special elemental move and can cause massive damage when used. In the first edition cards there is only one card per element. As of the third edition each move (rock, paper, and scissors) has one super move card per element. More will be revealed over time. The player cannot scan an element card if the element of the dinosaur does not match the element of the Super Move. For example, Triceratops will be able to use the lightning strike move card unlike Tyrannosaurus. If he/she scans a "wrong" card, the game will tell the player that he/she scanned the wrong element.

Biting Wind

Note: Secret attribute dinosaurs have unique moves, moves can be scanned by using normal move cards.

The series was adapted into an anime TV series, Ancient Ruler Dinosaur King DKidz Adventure(古代王者恐竜キング Dキッズ・アドベンチャー,Kodai Ōja Kyōryū Kingu Dī Kizzu Adobenchā?), which is made by Sunrise and premiered on TV Asahi on February 4, 2007. As of 2008, an English adaptation aired on the 4Kids TV block on Fox, but moved to The CW's The CW4Kids block on September 6, 2008. A video game based on the series was released by Sega for the Nintendo DS on September 23, 2008.[4]

The Dinosaur King Trading Card game was released in the fall of 2008 by the Upper Deck Company. Although the play mechanism follows the arcade game cards to some extent, they are not meant to be mixed.